Review: Side Effects May Vary

"I’d heard in class once that our society has become so accustomed to violence that when we actually do witness real gore and brutality, we’re unable to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not."

I don't read much contemporary, I often don't like the characters and the fact that there is no fantasy or mystery (which is most of the time what I like about reading) does nothing to change my mind. But with this book it was completely the other way around, I think what I loved about this book so much are the characters, I love that the main girl is bitchy and horrible sometimes, it's such a refreshing change from the kind but boring Hazel Grace from The Fault In Our Stars, don't get me wrong being kind is good too, but if I'm going to read about a teenage girl with cancer I want her to be angry and feel rage like any other teenager would at such news.

I love how this book is not a romanticized story about how cancer can affect your life, but a raw description of what if would feel to know you're dying, because metaphors and Amsterdam trips are alright, but I'm not sure I would see it that way if I was in that place.

Somehow between irony and cold sentences Julie Murphy manages to make her characters believable and bring them to life in a most human way.